A new study by the Hunter Medical Research Institute in Australia found that asthma patients who noshed on a 1,000-calorie, high-fat meal of fast-food hamburgers and hash browns soon after experienced increased inflammation in their airways and decreased lung function. They also did not respond as well to drug treatment as those participants who ate a low-fat, 200 calorie meal.

The preliminary results could be helpful to researchers worldwide, who have struggled to explain why the prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980 to 1994. The study provides more ammo to those who point to environmental factors, such as diet, as the root cause of the increase.